County Resumes Cloud Seeding After Decade

Los Angeles County has resumed cloud seeding, more than a decade after the rain-making program was discontinued amid complaints that it caused devastating mudslides in the San Gabriel Mountain foothills.

Since the county’s $180,320 contract was signed last month with Utah-based North American Weather Consultants, the company has fired up its equipment once but the attempt produced no additional rainfall, officials said.

In light of California’s five-year drought, the Board of Supervisors has revived the program and has required the weather modification company to take out a $10-million insurance policy. The insurance apparently was in response to a warning from the county counsel that “cloud seeding immediately adjacent to the second largest metropolitan area in the nation involves potential risks of very substantial liability.”